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Disclaimer: The names of the women mentioned in this article have been changed to protect their privacy.

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“Dua” in Arabic means to summon or to call, but more powerfully in Islam, it means to invoke Allah ﷻ in a personal request, in gratitude or for a blessing or forgiveness. It is a central part of having taqwa – a certainty in Allah as though you see Him because though you cannot see Him, He can see you – and tawakkul – a complete reliance and surrender to the will of Allah, and acceptance of His plan. A form of worship in itself, dua allows us to maintain humility and is an outward manifestation of our Iman, our blind faith in Allah.

“Your Lord has proclaimed, “Call upon Me, I will respond to you. Surely those who are too proud to worship Me will enter Hell, fully humbled.” (Surah Ghafir 40:60)

There is an abundance of specific duas that can be made in specific situations, for when you’re angry, entering the bathroom, or about to eat (there’s a handy list here) and come from a range of sources, namely the Qur’an – known as Rabbana duas – and the Sunnah of the Prophet ﷺ. But dua doesn’t need to feel like a rigid incantation that can only be made in Arabic. Making regular dua can feel like having an open stream of conversation with Allah. You tell Him about your fears and hopes, thank Him for your blessings, and praise Him.

Though it need not be structured, there is an ideal format for making dua that the Prophet ﷺ instructed which you can find in the article The Etiquettes of Making Dua: How to Get Your Prayers Answered.

Unanswered Duas

‘Please God please.’

Many of us are familiar with that feeling of desperation and longing while making dua and begging through tears, scared but hopeful. Whether it’s for the healing of a family member, a job, a potential spouse, or closing on a dream house, when we’re at our time of greatest need and vulnerability, we turn to Allah, in recognition that he is the Most High and the All-Powerful. 

It can indeed feel disheartening when you plead and beg and it feels as though Allah doesn’t hear you or isn’t responding. But don’t despair! We’ve been reassured by the Prophet ﷺ that duas are always answered, just perhaps not in the way we always want or exactly when we want them to be.

According to the Prophet ﷺ, duas are answered in three different ways.

Abu Hurairah narrated that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: “There is not a man who calls upon Allah with a supplication, except that he is answered. Either it shall be granted to him in the world, or reserved for him in the Hereafter, or, his sins shall be expiated for it according to the extent that he supplicated – as long as he does not supplicate for some sin, or for the severing of the ties of kinship, and he does not become hasty.” They said: “O Messenger of Allah, and how would he be hasty?” He ﷺ said: “He says: ‘I called upon my Lord, but He did not answer me.’”(Tirmidhi)

We spoke to 7 Muslim women who had their duas answered in heartwarming and unexpected ways, in moments of pure desperation or simply in a moment of remembrance of Allah and the mercy He has for His creation, even in the little things. 

7 stories from women who have had their duas answered in the most wholesome ways

1. Zainab – A Delayed Dua Answered Perfectly

Zainab was desperately making dua to pass her A-levels and get into a good university, but despite all her prayers she didn’t get the grades she needed and took a gap year. While all her friends were at uni she felt lonely, left behind and like she wasn’t progressing.

“I kept making dua that everything would work out. When I eventually applied to the university again, I received an unconditional offer with the same grades. It was confusing because they could’ve just given me an offer through clearing. However, I ended up going to university the following year and because of that, I met the most amazing people and went on a year abroad that changed my life and was the best thing for me. Even though taking the gap year wasn’t by choice, I ended up working in a bunch of random industries, which gave me great experience and a lot of transferable skills, as well as forcing me to learn how to be by myself. At the time I felt like my life was falling apart but it worked out in the best way!”

2. Amina – From Desperation to Relief: A Dua That Resolved Debt

Amina shares a deeply vulnerable moment in her life. Following her divorce, she was in over £50,000 of debt and was left repaying the amount to the bank every month as her ex-husband had taken out a huge loan and credit cards in her name. 

Newly independent and privately renting in London, she was already struggling. She says, 

“There had been a hiccup at the bank around 6 months prior so for some reason, a few of my monthly repayments didn’t go through. So l was called around 400 times by the bank (I calculated), sometimes on my mobile and sometimes on my parents’ house phone. They were calling me four times a day to ask about repayments that I had already made, chasing me down for more money that I didn’t have because I was paying my bills and rent.”

At a time so stressful and mentally taxing she recalls, “I was just sitting and staring out my window, desperately thinking to myself, ‘Ya Allah please help me’. My account had less than £50 in it and I needed to ration. If they forcefully withdrew the claim, I couldn’t afford food for the following two weeks or afford to travel to work. I said ‘Allah please help me through this, I trust in you as Ar Razzaq with full conviction.”

“Fast forward 4 days, the bank called me after investigating my case and it turns out it was a mistake over £0.63p that didn’t go through in December because of a glitch in the system which accrued interest and they were trying to claim that back from me. I rebutted that their technical error was not my fault and they apologised a lot and sent me £150 as an apology for the hassle.”

“So not only did Allah solve the stressful situation, it felt like He provided me with the money for persevering with sabr and putting my faith in him! This felt like such a tangible outcome in such a short space of time after months of the bank harassing me, and a deep reminder that Allah has my back at all times, I just need to ask.”

“I had and always have full faith that Allah will respond to my dua, which has helped me with my other anxieties so much in general because on multiple occasions He’s saved me from situations, helped me, provided for me, or removed a burden from my path.”

3. Sidra – A Dua for Ease in Relationships

Sidra has developed a precise process for making dua. “I started keeping a pocket-sized journal with me to note down my daily duas and see the gradual conversation I was having with Allah. One dua that took some time for me to see the answer to, and is still somewhat a work in progress, was when I started praying for ease at the beginning of my conversion to Sunni Islam, and to be able to move out and form healthier relationships with my family. Not knowing if the situation would get better was difficult and I went to Allah anxious and exhausted. I broke my fears and struggles down into a lot of duas, and in this period I was also Qur’an journaling. I would note down ayahs where Allah reassures different prophets (Muhammad ﷺ, Yusuf AS, Musa AS) and would turn to Him saying ‘I have faith in you despite this physical anxiety. I know you can help me.’ I think Allah sometimes humbles you to a level where you’re only going to rely on Him fully to help. Then anything good, I relate it to Allah and His provision and mercy.”

4. Layla – A Dua Answered in an Unexpected Way

Layla talked about her process of getting into medical school. She had always wanted to be a doctor but didn’t get the grades initially. Now at 30, she’s undertaking the third year of her medical degree, a position she knows only became possible because of the paths that Allah took her down.

“I didn’t get the A-levels to get into Medicine but decided to pursue a career path that’s as close as possible. I thought maybe if I worked in a lab, I’d get fulfilment from my work, so I did Biochemistry at university. After graduating, I applied for jobs and didn’t get any so I undertook a  research Masters in Molecular Science, and alhamdulillah landed my first research job which happened to be as a doctor’s research assistant. Working with him inspired me to look into medicine again, even though monetarily it seemed completely impossible: the fees, moving out, all of it.”

“Until one day, a woman who used to work at my workplace but had moved on to Medicine visited during a work social. She told me how she funded her degree by using the maximum maintenance loan to pay the fees. Once you’re over the age of 25, you’re classed as an ‘independent student’. If you’ve already completed an undergraduate degree, Student Finance won’t give you a loan for tuition fees however, they will give you up to £10,000 per year as a maintenance loan. Fortunately, the doctor whom I was working for in my research job at UCL, ended up writing my reference for medical school and the university I got into was a half an hour drive from my house! I didn’t need to move out and expenses weren’t that high, which made it so feasible. If I was working anywhere else, I never would have known about this route into Medicine, nor would I have had a recommendation from a doctor who was established in his career.”

Why do you think you needed to go through all of that? Why do you think your dua didn’t get accepted when you were applying to Medicine when you were 18?

“I think I would’ve dropped out if I did it back then, I would’ve dropped out for sure. I had to fail. You just build this tenacity and resilience when you fail at all these little things, and it teaches you to snap back. By not getting in the first time, I was able to grow as a person and be exactly where I needed to be to get in. I had to be rejected for jobs for months, I had to do the research Masters, I had to meet the girl and work with the doctor. So many things had to happen for my dua to be answered.”

5. Nadine – A Dua for Financial Relief Answered Overnight

Nadine shares a moment where she felt a momentary need, and in that moment she brought Allah into her thoughts. It wasn’t a big, heartfelt dua, there were no tears, just complete and utter sincerity of belief in that moment that Allah could help ease her struggle.

“I was going through my finances and I thought to myself in passing, ‘You know what, £3000 would really help me get my finances in order’. In my head I said, ‘Ya Allah please help me with £3000’, I was very specific about the amount,” she laughs. 

“The next day I got a call from one of our project partners offering us a grant that was flexible, so we could use it for the incomes of myself and others on the team, and I thought, ‘Oh this could be an opportunity that Allah is giving me to advocate for myself where I might not usually’. I asked the team if it was okay to take £3000 for myself since it was a flexible grant and they were all for it. And that’s how that dua was answered, within literally 24 hours subhanAllah! It made me think about how seeds can be planted but you have to take the steps to water them. Money like that won’t just turn up on a plate, nor would my willingness to ask for it, but making that du’a is what brought it my way and made me feel empowered to ask since it felt like Allah was responding to me. It was a good reminder to have more tawakkul and turn to Allah in moments of need, even with the most specific requests.”

6. Ayah – A Dua That Led to Relief from a Difficult Situation

Ayah shares an experience that transformed her relationship with dua and made her reflect on her approach to situations. 

“About three years ago I was in a position where I wasn’t good at making dua. I didn’t do it with the regularity I should have and wasn’t good at doing it with the intentionality it deserves. This was one of the few times that I did. I was doing an intensive course for several months abroad so I was away from home. There was a guy on this course who I’d become friends with but after a while, he’d developed feelings and had started to pursue me. He was quite pushy but I wasn’t interested in exploring anything at the time. It got very uncomfortable after a while, he just didn’t listen to me saying I wasn’t interested. It was a small cohort – maybe 10 of us – and I was stuck with him for several hours a day during this course. I didn’t like drama so I would pretend that nothing was happening, while I was very stressed behind the scenes, and he would take advantage of that. Mentally I reached a position where I desperately just wanted some space, being around him for several hours a day while he continuously made me feel uncomfortable and ignored me. Turning him down was really unpleasant, to the point where I started missing sessions to avoid him. Ramadan rolled around and I remember one day after Salah I sat on my knees and desperately asked for an escape from him. I still had six weeks of the course left but I hated the situation I was in so much and I just wanted my space back. I was severely mentally distressed and it was one of the most sincere duas I’ve ever made.

I went on to celebrate the first day of Eid, and literally the next morning they announced the Covid lockdown and moved the course online. I can’t explain to you how great of a relief this was for me! It made all the difference in the world. I finally got the space I wanted away from this person, and I didn’t have to leave the comfort of my room. I remember saying over and over again ‘Thank you, Allah, thank you Allah’, it felt like an Eid gift, and I felt so blessed. Due to the lockdown and not needing to physically be at the course, I was able to move my flight back home to an earlier date and it felt like a great escape from such a horrible situation.

The timing felt perfect, I got a day to celebrate Eid and then I got what I prayed for. I had desperately needed a solution and when I sincerely made dua and begged Allah for some way out, He presented it to me. At the time, I was very conflict-avoidant and bad at confronting people so I was letting things pile up and getting more stressed while ignoring it and not dealing with it. Having that request answered helped my relationship with dua and Allah. It reinforced the belief that if I ask, I will receive. I felt heard, and so grateful, and I also took the time out to reflect on the situation and the things I could have done better.”

7. Maham – An Answered Dua Against All Odds

Maham reflected on a moment where the difference between her dua being answered or unanswered would change the trajectory of her entire life, and how she didn’t face the challenge alone.

“I genuinely thought I’d have to leave the country because of my visa situation. Usually, you can get a visa by having your work sponsor you, though there are some salary restrictions, about £22,000.  A month before I had to get my visa, they changed the rules requiring graduates to earn £33,000 to be eligible for a visa. It’s a lot more money that I didn’t earn – I still don’t earn. So I had four days to apply for a slot, which is highly competitive, there are only 500 slots per day, to be able to apply for a visa before they changed the rules. It was during Ramadan and I was praying constantly, it got to a point where I had full faith in Allah that if it was meant to happen and it was best for me then it would happen. I made full peace with it and was so calm. The first day I didn’t get it, nor the second, but alhamdulillah I got in on the third. The chances of me getting it were slim to none, it’s an absolute miracle and I’m genuinely grateful to my friends for how much they prayed for it- it wasn’t just me. Everyone checked up on me and asked about it, everyone was concerned and constantly praying for me – it was a collective effort. I feel like you can make a dua sincerely but if it’s not meant for you, it’s not meant for you and I genuinely believe that when you have the support of everyone else, and you ask the people who care for you to make dua for you, that makes a world of a difference.”  

It is important to remember that dua doesn’t need to be reserved for the big life things. I make dua that I’ll get a seat on the tube, that I won’t be late to a meeting even though Google Maps is saying I absolutely will be, or that I’ll find my favourite meal deal sandwich – and they’ve all been answered immediately.

Recently I’ve made dua for rizq (wealth, provision) and on two separate occasions I’ve been compelled to check my email at really random times and I was able to sign up to paid projects at the last minute.

A worthwhile addition to your duas is always ‘if it’s good for me’. I’ve seen firsthand someone getting everything they prayed for and still being unhappy. You might desperately want that person as your spouse, that job, or that house, but they could bring harm and angst into your life rather than peace and security. ‘If it’s good for me’ is a recognition that you don’t know the bigger picture, only Allah does.

Don’t forget to think big! We’ve probably all seen the posts encouraging us to “be delusional with your duas” but this is more than a TikTok trend. Anas RA reported that The Messenger of Allah ﷻ said, “Let one of you ask his Lord for his every need, even until he asks Him for the strap of his sandal when it breaks.” (Tirmidhi)

And finally, remind yourself to be grateful for your blessings. As Ustadh Abdelrahman Murphy put it, “The thing you’re complaining about is the thing that someone else is quite literally begging Allah for”. You could be living in an answered du’a and you’re blind to it because you’re focused on the next life problem. “If you are grateful, I will give you more” (Surah Ibrahim 14:7).